Chapter 1
It was rather difficult, Tabitha Crestwood mused, being a Squib.
At home she was surrounded by magic, talking mirrors and moving photographs, and of course, her parents using magic every chance they got. At school she blended in like a chameleon, in quiet awe of the absurd ways Muggles managed to get along without magic. She did her homework dutifully, utterly bored by the continuous assignments on the same things every day. Nobody ever suspected that quiet, timid Tabitha went home each night to a houseful of witches and wizards.
It didn't help that her father was Elliot Crestwood, a man who would very possibly be the next Minister of Magic. Her father's policies were moderate; in fact his campaign slogan was "Moderate magic!" He was neither a supporter of the Dark nor the Light side; he had a deep respect for the Dark Lord, but advocated that the Dark Lord's power should be used for good, not evil. Personally, Tabitha found the whole idea of it a bit ridiculous. The day the Dark Lord would use his powers for good would be the day Severus Snape put on a top hat and danced around the room. It was simply never going to happen.
Her parents had told her that she never showed signs of magic. Most wizarding children show at least some magical potential from the time they're a year old or so. Late bloomers almost always caught up by the age of seven, and it was around then that their powers started shaping up. Tabitha had shown not one sign of magic in her entire lifetime. She was fifteen now, and the doctors had sadly concluded that it was likely she would never become a witch. Her parents were deeply ashamed that they had produced a Squib. When the final verdict came, it had been a huge scandal splashed across the front page of the Daily Prophet: "Elliot Crestwood's Daughter a Squib!" She had brought shame and horror upon her entire family.
Her sister Alia, on the other hand, was perfect, the model Crestwood. She had started at Hogwarts the year before, and much to everyone's shock had been Sorted into Hufflepuff. The entire Crestwood line had been sorted into Slytherin, way back to her great great great great grandfather or someone like that. Not all Slytherins followed Voldemort, you know. Since then, their parents had been quite distant from them both; Tabitha suspected they thought them both family traitors and wouldn't be the least bit surprised if her and her sister were thrown out of the house tomorrow.
On the first day of tenth grade, Tabitha stood alone waiting for the bus, dressed in simple jeans and a cute T-shirt, with just a little bit of makeup on. Most kids had their parents drive them to school, but since Tabitha's parents had never owned a car and the family traveled mostly by Side-Along Apparition or Floo Powder, she took the bus. As the large yellow bus rumbled to a stop, Tabitha fought to keep the contents of her breakfast down. Today was the day, the day she would do what she had wanted to do for so long.
When she got to school, Tabitha headed for her locker, still thinking about that certain person. She was planning on making her move during lunch fifth period. What she didn't bargain on was running smack into her target in the hallway. She lost her balance, and crashed to the floor along with her books. Robby Mikalson-the love of her life for two, no three years-extended a hand to help her up and she looked into his ice-blue eyes, accented by his long blonde hair, she was so overcome with hormonal lust that she almost fell back down again.
"You okay?" Robby asked. Oh, how she wanted him!
"Yeah." Tabitha replied faintly, still staring into those unforgettable eyes. She shook her head to clear it.
"Listen, Robby, I was wondering..." she swallowed hard, willing with all her might that she wouldn't puke all over his shoes. "I was wondering...if you would like to...go out with me...sometime..." She looked up, expecting a shy smile, maybe even a resounding yes in return. But instead the smile he had before was gone, and replaced with a sneer. This can't be good, Tabitha thought stupidly.
"Go out? With you?" Two of Robby's cronies that must've crept up when she was staring at the floor snickered. "Why would you ever think I'd go out with you? You're stupid and ugly. And worst of all, you're a bitch." Tabitha wanted to cry, but soon a wave of fury overtook her. She was angrier than she had ever been before in her life. She had loved, she had craved this boy for three years! Three years that were now wasted! She stared at him with eyes that blazed with hurt and longing, and as she stared, she knew she wanted to hurt him. She wanted to hurt him just like he had hurt her.
All of a sudden, Robby was on the floor, writhing in pain, and his two sidekick buffoons were fleeing down the hall in panic. The boy's skin had turned a deathly pale, and as Tabitha watched, deep cuts carved their way into his skin, cuts making a river, a river of blood flowing from the cuts and staining the white hallway floor. She wanted it to stop, she wanted to run, but she was transfixed, glued to the scene like a horror movie. All of a sudden, a thundering crowd of people broke her out of her trance and as the people approached, she began to run, anywhere, nowhere, her black hair fanning out behind her. She didn't get very far, however, before a strong hand clamped around her wrist and she found herself looking into the stern face of the headmistress.
"Tabitha." she said menacingly, and the girl shuddered. "You're coming with me." And all Tabitha could think as she was led to the office, was what in God's name had she just done?